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Stein & Candle Detective Agency #2
Cold Wars
A wealthy Hawaiian hotelier is chewed to death by sharks – in his penthouse office.
A traveling salesman goes missing – in a shady New England town full of monstrous fishmen.
A new casino gets supernaturally good luck in Vegas – thanks to ancient Egyptian magic.
These are the cases taken by Morton Candle and Weatherby Stein. Mort’s a hardboiled ex-paratrooper turned two-gun shamus. Weatherby’s a fourteen-year-old wiz kid and heir to the greatest family of European sorcerers.
They met in the fury of WWII, when Weatherby and his parents were being held hostage by the Third Reich and Mort’s squad was sent to bust them out. Now they’re a pair of private detectives specializing in the paranormal, the supernatural and the just plain weird.
But sometimes, arcane evil goes back a long way and a dangerous force from deep in the past of Stein’s family is about rise. Weatherby and Mort will put everything they have into stopping it – and it might not be enough.
A traveling salesman goes missing – in a shady New England town full of monstrous fishmen.
A new casino gets supernaturally good luck in Vegas – thanks to ancient Egyptian magic.
These are the cases taken by Morton Candle and Weatherby Stein. Mort’s a hardboiled ex-paratrooper turned two-gun shamus. Weatherby’s a fourteen-year-old wiz kid and heir to the greatest family of European sorcerers.
They met in the fury of WWII, when Weatherby and his parents were being held hostage by the Third Reich and Mort’s squad was sent to bust them out. Now they’re a pair of private detectives specializing in the paranormal, the supernatural and the just plain weird.
But sometimes, arcane evil goes back a long way and a dangerous force from deep in the past of Stein’s family is about rise. Weatherby and Mort will put everything they have into stopping it – and it might not be enough.
- GenresAdventureSupernatural
221 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 24, 2012
1 person is currently reading
57 people want to read
About the author
Michael Panush
31 books35 followersMichael Panush has distinguished himself as one of Sacramento’s most promising young writers.
His books with Curiosity Quills include The Stein and Candle Detective Agency, Volume 1: American Nightmares, Volume 2: Cold Wars, and Volume 3: Red Reunion, all featuring a pair of occult detectives in the 1950s, Dinosaur Jazz— where The Great Gatsby meets Jurassic Park — a story about a Lost World battling against the forces of modernization; El Mosaico, Volume 1: Scarred Souls, Volume 2: The Road to Hellfire, and El Mosaico, Volume 3: Hellfire, a Western about a bounty hunter whose body was assembled from the remains of dead Civil War soldiers and brought to life by mad science; and Dead Man’s Drive, a 1950s urban fantasy about a hot rod-riding zombie. With Airship 27, he created the Clay Shamus—a story of a golem detective. His short fiction has been published in Towers of Metropolis and George Chance: The Green Ghost from Airship 27. His Latest book is Ape's Honor, a Novel of Victoria's Ape, from Pro Se Press.
Michael began telling stories when he was only nine years old. He won first place in the Sacramento Storyteller’s Guild “Liar’s Contest” in 2002 and was a finalist in the National Youth Storytelling Olympics in 2003.
In 2007, Michael was selected as a California Art’s Scholar and attended the Innerspark Summer Writing Program at the CalArts Institute. He graduated from UC Santa Cruz in 2012, recently attended the School of Education at the Loyola-Marymount University and currently resides in Sacramento.
Follow him on twitter at https://twitter.com/Michael_Panush
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 4, 2012
Book Info: Genre: Paranormal Noir Mystery/Action/Adventure Reading Level: Adult (has YA character, probably appropriate for readers as young as MG w/ violence warning)
Disclosure: I received a free eBook copy of this novel from Curiosity Quills (the publisher) in exchange for an honest review
Synopsis: A wealthy Hawaiian hotelier is chewed to death by sharks – in his penthouse office. A traveling salesman goes missing – in a shady New England town full of monstrous fishmen. A new casino gets supernaturally good luck in Vegas – thanks to ancient Egyptian magic.
These are the cases taken by Morton Candle and Weatherby Stein. Mort’s a hardboiled ex-paratrooper turned two-gun shamus. Weatherby’s a fourteen-year-old wiz kid and heir to the greatest family of European sorcerers.
They met in the fury of WWII, when Weatherby and his parents were being held hostage by the Third Reich and Mort’s squad was sent to bust them out. Now they’re a pair of private detectives specializing in the paranormal, the supernatural and the just plain weird.
But sometimes, arcane evil goes back a long way and a dangerous force from deep in the past of Stein’s family is about rise. Weatherby and Mort will put everything they have into stopping it – and it might not be enough
My Thoughts: I read and reviewed the first book in this series, The Stein & Candle Detective Agency: American Nightmares, 4/15/12, and really got a kick out of it. Additionally, I read this author’s book Dinosaur Jazz 8/3/12 – Michael Panush is a very talented young writer (he’s only 22) and based upon his work so far, I predict great things for him ahead. Thanks to Curiosity Quills for bringing us fresh, young talent like this, to entertain and edify.
Again, this book is a series of episodes where Candle and Stein solve occult crimes and fight paranormal creatures. Fans of Lovecraft will cheer over their adventure in Innsmouth, and the entire book has Cthulhian images scattered throughout. Included among the cases are a story about Candle’s military unit rescuing Stein, and the story of how Candle and Stein teamed up as a detective agency.
There are a number of editing errors, but the stories are fast-paced and, like the first book, full of pulpy goodness. Suspension of disbelief is required, but it is an enjoyable read. If you enjoyed the first book, don’t miss this one!
Disclosure: I received a free eBook copy of this novel from Curiosity Quills (the publisher) in exchange for an honest review
Synopsis: A wealthy Hawaiian hotelier is chewed to death by sharks – in his penthouse office. A traveling salesman goes missing – in a shady New England town full of monstrous fishmen. A new casino gets supernaturally good luck in Vegas – thanks to ancient Egyptian magic.
These are the cases taken by Morton Candle and Weatherby Stein. Mort’s a hardboiled ex-paratrooper turned two-gun shamus. Weatherby’s a fourteen-year-old wiz kid and heir to the greatest family of European sorcerers.
They met in the fury of WWII, when Weatherby and his parents were being held hostage by the Third Reich and Mort’s squad was sent to bust them out. Now they’re a pair of private detectives specializing in the paranormal, the supernatural and the just plain weird.
But sometimes, arcane evil goes back a long way and a dangerous force from deep in the past of Stein’s family is about rise. Weatherby and Mort will put everything they have into stopping it – and it might not be enough
My Thoughts: I read and reviewed the first book in this series, The Stein & Candle Detective Agency: American Nightmares, 4/15/12, and really got a kick out of it. Additionally, I read this author’s book Dinosaur Jazz 8/3/12 – Michael Panush is a very talented young writer (he’s only 22) and based upon his work so far, I predict great things for him ahead. Thanks to Curiosity Quills for bringing us fresh, young talent like this, to entertain and edify.
Again, this book is a series of episodes where Candle and Stein solve occult crimes and fight paranormal creatures. Fans of Lovecraft will cheer over their adventure in Innsmouth, and the entire book has Cthulhian images scattered throughout. Included among the cases are a story about Candle’s military unit rescuing Stein, and the story of how Candle and Stein teamed up as a detective agency.
There are a number of editing errors, but the stories are fast-paced and, like the first book, full of pulpy goodness. Suspension of disbelief is required, but it is an enjoyable read. If you enjoyed the first book, don’t miss this one!
May 15, 2020
This one.was a little less attractive compared to the previous volume. That was perhaps due to lesser involvement of dames and greater participation by pesky Selena Stein— both moves probably aimed at making the works more teenager-friendly.
The stories were:
1. Tiki Terror
2. Crimson Catch
3. Mort Candle's War
4. Pharaoh's Palace
5. The Hollow
6. Business Proposition
7. Crypt Crashers
A good read. Recommended.
The stories were:
1. Tiki Terror
2. Crimson Catch
3. Mort Candle's War
4. Pharaoh's Palace
5. The Hollow
6. Business Proposition
7. Crypt Crashers
A good read. Recommended.
December 21, 2025
Another compilation of short stories featuring Mort Candle (a hard-boiled detective, who is inclined to solve cases with a shotgun, Tommy gun, .45s, hand grenades, K-Bar, or fists) and young Weatherby Stein (scion of a family of occult scholars, who is inclined to use his magical skills). If you want to read Stein & Candle's complete origin story in order, you should read "War Stories" from the first collection, then jump to "Mort Candle's War," and finally "Business Proposition." There are some old friends and enemies here, as well as intriguing new characters such as Doc Darby Dearborn, archaeologist and adventurer, and his teenage daughter, Evelyn, as well as the powerful villain, Wagner Stein, a.k.a. Dr. Twist. In one story, there is a mummy called Nepher-Ka, an alternate spelling of Lovecraft's Black Pharaoh, suggesting a linkage to Josh Reynolds's Royal Occultist series. "The Crimson Catch" references Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest. The same basic plot of an interloper selling his services to both sides of a gang war to cause maximum carnage and betrayal, that has been used over and over in films such as Yojimbo, A Fistful of Dollars, The Warrior and the Sorceress, and Last Man Standing. Here, the plot involves rival Dagon worshippers out to control Innsmouth of Lovecraft fame. Good fun.
October 1, 2020
Supernatural Detective Fun
These stories read like supernatural pulp fiction from a 30's magazine. There are a few amusing hard boiled lines in each story, but the writing is inconsistent and sometimes gets fairly juvenile. That said, Stein and Candle are engaging characters and the tales are very fast paced and generally fun.
(Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)
These stories read like supernatural pulp fiction from a 30's magazine. There are a few amusing hard boiled lines in each story, but the writing is inconsistent and sometimes gets fairly juvenile. That said, Stein and Candle are engaging characters and the tales are very fast paced and generally fun.
(Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)
September 11, 2020
I seem to be reading this series in counter clockwise fashion. Several years ago I read volume 3, now I have read volume 2, but I still need to get and read volume 1. In volume 2, Stein & Candle encounter Hawaiian spirits, a resurrected pharaoh in Las Vegas, and Lovecraftian horrors in New England. This volume also has the rescue tale where Candles and his squad rescue Stein from the Nazis in WWII and also where the duo lets loose a Stein ancestor on an unsuspecting NYC. A fun read.
April 4, 2020
would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this funny book
an old fashioned murder mystery with hints of the supernatural
well worth a read and quite funny and old fashioned in places
an old fashioned murder mystery with hints of the supernatural
well worth a read and quite funny and old fashioned in places
July 13, 2012
Okay, I'm going to tell you what I liked about this book first and then I'm going to tell you why I'm also a little bit miffed so only gave it four rather than five stars! BEWARE - the miffed bit will contain spoilers.
Well, as in vol 1, this book has lots of action, blazing guns, occult nasties and is mostly written with a touch of humour (although Crimson Catch gets a bit dark). And the best bit of that is, it's better written than vol 1. The stories flow better, the author really seems to have found his voice for Mort and this book is an easy read. Less typos too. I just love Weatherby, he's adorable: a hard-shelled, soft-centred kid doing what he thinks is right, and he even gets to meet a girl :). We also get an origin story for the S&C Detective Agency.
However, why I'm miffed comes in more than one packet, two to be exact.
SPOILERS AFTER THIS POINT
The first one isn't really too big a miff, it's the story The Hollow, which I loved as a premise, but, really, was not much of a story for me, because it broke from the formula that I like about S&CDA. Biggie for me, Weatherby is hardly in it, sidelined for a preacher and Weatherby's sister, Selena. That's not my only problem with it though. Because it jumps in in the middle, it's quite difficult to get a feel for the bad guys (only a bit of tell, not showing about their history) and we jump right to the prep for the big confrontation, no build up, no skirmishes, nothing. So I was a bit disappointed. Although I did like the final battle, monsters gave me the creeps, even if Weatherby had been written out!
I will add that breaking from the formula is not all bad, it works sometimes, like in Business Proposition, where it's told from Weatherby's POV - that really worked.
My second peeve is a bigger one for me, because it is a pet peeve of mine. The last story, Crypt Crashers, is not a story in its own right, it's a starter for an arc. Now, I don't dislike arcs completely, what I dislike is when the reader (or watcher) satisfaction is sacrificed to feed the arc. And there was absolutely no reader satisfaction in this story, because it was failure for the heroes, not once, but three times. First, they ignore perfectly good warnings from someone they trust, when, really, they should at least have taken precautions based on said warnings. Second, they lose the first round, okay, not a deal breaker, could just be a set up for the next round, but when they lose the final round as well, I was left really let down. There should have been something, they should have come away having at least bruised the big bad, so that he was going away to lick his wounds, but no, they just lost, plain and simple, leaving me, the reader, feeling very flat - at the end of the book, no less. I wouldn't have minded the big bad getting away, it means they have a classic arch nemesis to pop up in the odd story, but just rubbing it in my face that the guy got away and beat them hollow and it was all their own fault, well, thanks for nothing!
So, I still love Mort and Weatherby. I like their adventures, I like the gung-ho approach to dealing with the supernatural. But 4 out of 5 rather than the perfect five, mainly because of the arc-teaser story at the end.
Well, as in vol 1, this book has lots of action, blazing guns, occult nasties and is mostly written with a touch of humour (although Crimson Catch gets a bit dark). And the best bit of that is, it's better written than vol 1. The stories flow better, the author really seems to have found his voice for Mort and this book is an easy read. Less typos too. I just love Weatherby, he's adorable: a hard-shelled, soft-centred kid doing what he thinks is right, and he even gets to meet a girl :). We also get an origin story for the S&C Detective Agency.
However, why I'm miffed comes in more than one packet, two to be exact.
SPOILERS AFTER THIS POINT
The first one isn't really too big a miff, it's the story The Hollow, which I loved as a premise, but, really, was not much of a story for me, because it broke from the formula that I like about S&CDA. Biggie for me, Weatherby is hardly in it, sidelined for a preacher and Weatherby's sister, Selena. That's not my only problem with it though. Because it jumps in in the middle, it's quite difficult to get a feel for the bad guys (only a bit of tell, not showing about their history) and we jump right to the prep for the big confrontation, no build up, no skirmishes, nothing. So I was a bit disappointed. Although I did like the final battle, monsters gave me the creeps, even if Weatherby had been written out!
I will add that breaking from the formula is not all bad, it works sometimes, like in Business Proposition, where it's told from Weatherby's POV - that really worked.
My second peeve is a bigger one for me, because it is a pet peeve of mine. The last story, Crypt Crashers, is not a story in its own right, it's a starter for an arc. Now, I don't dislike arcs completely, what I dislike is when the reader (or watcher) satisfaction is sacrificed to feed the arc. And there was absolutely no reader satisfaction in this story, because it was failure for the heroes, not once, but three times. First, they ignore perfectly good warnings from someone they trust, when, really, they should at least have taken precautions based on said warnings. Second, they lose the first round, okay, not a deal breaker, could just be a set up for the next round, but when they lose the final round as well, I was left really let down. There should have been something, they should have come away having at least bruised the big bad, so that he was going away to lick his wounds, but no, they just lost, plain and simple, leaving me, the reader, feeling very flat - at the end of the book, no less. I wouldn't have minded the big bad getting away, it means they have a classic arch nemesis to pop up in the odd story, but just rubbing it in my face that the guy got away and beat them hollow and it was all their own fault, well, thanks for nothing!
So, I still love Mort and Weatherby. I like their adventures, I like the gung-ho approach to dealing with the supernatural. But 4 out of 5 rather than the perfect five, mainly because of the arc-teaser story at the end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 15, 2014
How did we end up here?
See, what happens when someone loves a book very much and there are more books just like it, that person will continue reading those similar books either until the series ends or until they’re just not interesting anymore. Thankfully the latter doesn’t apply here. I really don’t think that’s possible with Stein and Candle. I really don’t.
Okay, book. You've got 50 pages. Go!
Is it really much of a surprise that I was sucked into COLD WARS the same as I was AMERICAN NIGHTMARES? It’s Dick Tracy meets Supernatural and while I’m really not a fan of the Dick there’s just something about Panush’s writing that really brings me in and holds on until the book’s over. Like in its predecessor ,COLD WARS is more like a loosely strung together anthology where each story could stand on its own but, you know, it kind of helps to read everything so you know the backstory of the little past snippets that keep being dropped. Between the old timey voice that you would expect to hear in some old school radio story (that tough guy with the unidentifiable albeit probably New York accent) with the super kitsch that drips from the words (the Hawaiian print shirts, OMG Candle in a Hawaiian print shirt? I need a photo of that) and the never-ending smorgasbord of weird that Stein and Candle come in contact with I am never bored and I always have a good time reading Panush’s stuff.
What worked . . .
Check my last paragraph for more details. It’s just an all around fun read and I’m constantly amazed at the diversity of supernatural that Panush dredges up for his stories. Not to mention his ability to set a scene perfectly. I’m convinced he’s really from the 40s and 50s and just discovered the element of time travel. He captured the time period, the noir and any place he set the story in so well that I had a full-fledged 3D head movie going on when I read.
And I LOVED how in the middle of all this crazy, wacky, ridiculous mess that Stein and Candle get into he throws in a story about their past that’s anything but and it really grounds out their relationship. These two might as well be father and son for all they’ve gone through together and the extent to which they’re protective of each other is really heartening. I’ve hardly come across a better duo and I mean that.
What didn't work . . .
Um . . . there were noticeably more typos in this copy and I am almost positive that mine’s a finished product. So that was a little distracting, especially when words were missing. And, you know, I’m okay with it being longer. There’s not enough Stein and Candle as it stands now.
And in the end . . .
COLD WARS is absolutely an era piece and Panush did a bang up job of bringing it all in. There isn’t anything about this book I don’t like. What can I say? It hit me right. I have book three on stand by.
See, what happens when someone loves a book very much and there are more books just like it, that person will continue reading those similar books either until the series ends or until they’re just not interesting anymore. Thankfully the latter doesn’t apply here. I really don’t think that’s possible with Stein and Candle. I really don’t.
Okay, book. You've got 50 pages. Go!
Is it really much of a surprise that I was sucked into COLD WARS the same as I was AMERICAN NIGHTMARES? It’s Dick Tracy meets Supernatural and while I’m really not a fan of the Dick there’s just something about Panush’s writing that really brings me in and holds on until the book’s over. Like in its predecessor ,COLD WARS is more like a loosely strung together anthology where each story could stand on its own but, you know, it kind of helps to read everything so you know the backstory of the little past snippets that keep being dropped. Between the old timey voice that you would expect to hear in some old school radio story (that tough guy with the unidentifiable albeit probably New York accent) with the super kitsch that drips from the words (the Hawaiian print shirts, OMG Candle in a Hawaiian print shirt? I need a photo of that) and the never-ending smorgasbord of weird that Stein and Candle come in contact with I am never bored and I always have a good time reading Panush’s stuff.
What worked . . .
Check my last paragraph for more details. It’s just an all around fun read and I’m constantly amazed at the diversity of supernatural that Panush dredges up for his stories. Not to mention his ability to set a scene perfectly. I’m convinced he’s really from the 40s and 50s and just discovered the element of time travel. He captured the time period, the noir and any place he set the story in so well that I had a full-fledged 3D head movie going on when I read.
And I LOVED how in the middle of all this crazy, wacky, ridiculous mess that Stein and Candle get into he throws in a story about their past that’s anything but and it really grounds out their relationship. These two might as well be father and son for all they’ve gone through together and the extent to which they’re protective of each other is really heartening. I’ve hardly come across a better duo and I mean that.
What didn't work . . .
Um . . . there were noticeably more typos in this copy and I am almost positive that mine’s a finished product. So that was a little distracting, especially when words were missing. And, you know, I’m okay with it being longer. There’s not enough Stein and Candle as it stands now.
And in the end . . .
COLD WARS is absolutely an era piece and Panush did a bang up job of bringing it all in. There isn’t anything about this book I don’t like. What can I say? It hit me right. I have book three on stand by.
December 3, 2012
Originally posted at: http://lasrmystery.blogspot.com/2012/...
This is an unusual book. Set in the 1950s, it has the air of old detective cartoon books about secret agents. The book follows the careers of Morton Candle, a retired army sergeant turned detective and Weatherby Stein, genius of the supernatural and inheritor of his father's knowledge of the supernatural.
Their reputation is for solving cases of the unusual kind and each section covers a different crime for the two intrepid heroes to solve. First is the case of a man killed by a shark - in the penthouse office. Other similar strange cases come their way and they attempt to solve them with their usual combination of investigative experience and supernatural expertise.
The two main characters are fun. Mort knows Weatherby is still a child as far as maturity goes, but he treats him with respect. Most of the time Weatherby goes along with Mort, but when he feels strongly about something he digs his heels in and goes his own way.
Weatherby's sister, Selena, makes a few brief appearances much to Mort's irritation. Due to the fact it's separated into different stories (or cases) it's a book that can easily be put down and picked up again as time permits. Maybe it was the 1950s style of writing, but I found although I enjoyed it, this book didn't grab me enough to want to make me read more of the series. On the whole the book is lighthearted despite the paranormal aspect and I read it with enjoyment.
This is an unusual book. Set in the 1950s, it has the air of old detective cartoon books about secret agents. The book follows the careers of Morton Candle, a retired army sergeant turned detective and Weatherby Stein, genius of the supernatural and inheritor of his father's knowledge of the supernatural.
Their reputation is for solving cases of the unusual kind and each section covers a different crime for the two intrepid heroes to solve. First is the case of a man killed by a shark - in the penthouse office. Other similar strange cases come their way and they attempt to solve them with their usual combination of investigative experience and supernatural expertise.
The two main characters are fun. Mort knows Weatherby is still a child as far as maturity goes, but he treats him with respect. Most of the time Weatherby goes along with Mort, but when he feels strongly about something he digs his heels in and goes his own way.
Weatherby's sister, Selena, makes a few brief appearances much to Mort's irritation. Due to the fact it's separated into different stories (or cases) it's a book that can easily be put down and picked up again as time permits. Maybe it was the 1950s style of writing, but I found although I enjoyed it, this book didn't grab me enough to want to make me read more of the series. On the whole the book is lighthearted despite the paranormal aspect and I read it with enjoyment.
September 27, 2018
Fun to read, enjoyable and entertaining., I look forward to reading other books in this series.
Recommended!
Many thanks to Curiosity Quills Press and Netgalley for this ARC
Recommended!
Many thanks to Curiosity Quills Press and Netgalley for this ARC
October 16, 2018
Weatherly Stein is a fourteen year old heir to the greatest family of European sorcerers. Morton Candle is a tough ex soldier who helped rescue him after his parents were killed during WW2. These are the cases that they have solved. Call Stein and Candle Detective Agency for an outbreak of zombies. Have a Cthulhu? No problem. These stories are the best. Paranormal experience with muscles make them unbeatable. Loved this book and the first one as well. It you like the old time gangsters and gumshoes, you will love this. I received this book from Net Galley and Curiosity Quills Press for a honest review and no compensation otherwise.The opinions expressed are my own.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews